Best Cheap Web Hosting

If you're in search of a web host for either personal or professional websites, check out InMotion Hosting. This web hosting service boasts shared, dedicated, virtual private server (VPS), and WordPress hosting, as well as numerous free ecommerce tools. InMotion's lack of Windows servers, and a few other omissions, prevent it from reaching the heights of DreamHost, HostGator, and Hostwinds, the overall PCMag Editors' Choices for web hosting services.

Shared Web Hosting

InMotion offers three Linux-based shared web hosting plans. The most basic, Launch ($7.99 per month with an annual subscription), supports two websites and up to six domains. Power ($9.99 per month with an annual subscription) nets you six websites and up to 26 domains, while Pro ($15.99 per month with an annual subscription) offers unlimited websites and unlimited domains. All InMotion shared hosting plans include unlimited email, storage, and monthly data transfers, which is a nice touch.

That said, HostGator gets the nod as PCMag Editors' Choice award winner for shared web hosting services. InMotion's rival also offers unlimited domains, email, storage, and monthly data transfers, and it adds the choice of Linux- or Windows-based servers. The Windows option is an important one if your site has software that runs on an ASP.NET framework.

VPS Web Hosting

InMotion offers solid VPS hosting that starts at $44.99 per month and tops out at $154 per month. You get respectable top-level specs, including 8GB of RAM, 6TB of monthly data transfers, and 260GB of storage. Unlimited email, domains, websites, and MySQL databases are included, too. InMotion has a good VPS offering, but it isn't as robust as the PCMag VPS hosting Editors' Choice, Hostwinds.

Hostwinds has stacked and flexible VPS offerings that start at $7.50 per month for 1GB of RAM, 25GB of disk space, unlimited monthly data transfers, and unlimited email. Its offerings scale up to $129 per month for 18.5GB of RAM, 130GB of disk space, unlimited monthly data transfers, and unlimited email.

Dedicated Web Hosting

You can configure the company's Linux-based dedicated web servers (starting at $189 per month) with 3TB of storage, 15TB of monthly data transfers (which tops SiteGround's 5TB), and an impressive 64GB of RAM (many of web hosts we've tested offer 16GB).

Inmotion has solid dedicated web hosting plans, but Hostwinds, the PCMag Editors' Choice for dedicated hosting, has better all-around packages. Hostwinds offers dedicated hosting packages (starting at $99) that can be outfitted with up to 3TB of storage, 128GB of RAM. They boast unlimited monthly data transfers, too. You even get a choice of Linux- or Windows-based servers.

WordPress Web Hosting

If you're looking for WordPress hosting, InMotion offers solid packages. The plans aren't true managed WordPress hosting, though they offer many of its elements. The web host's Linux-based, WordPress-optimized servers (starting at $6.99 per month) come with the content management system preinstalled, and offer free daily backups and automatic software updates. However, InMotion will not automatically update your third-party WordPress plug-ins, or provide WordPress-specific security or page caching.

On the plus side, InMotion's WordPress hosting tosses most of the usual limitations to the wind. It offers unlimited websites, disk space, and monthly data transfers. Many of the true managed WordPress hosts we've reviewed have caps in place that limit their plans in some regard. InMotion also offers the BoldGrid website builder for your convenience.

That said, 1&1 reigns as the WordPress hosting champ. The Editors' Choice award-winning service (starting at $6.99 per month) boasts Linux servers, Windows servers, and unlimited storage and monthly data transfers, as well as managed WordPress-specific features like automatic security updates and live staging (the ability to create and test your site on a free temporary domain that can not be accessed via search engines). It's also far easier to set up than GoDaddy's competing product.

Setting Up a Website

I chose the Launch plan for my testing, but was disappointed to learn that I had to sign up for a full year. Like most web hosts, a discount is applied to the first term (for up to three years). InMotion discloses its renewal rates, so you don't get any surprises. There are no month-to-month options, unfortunately.

I was a bit worried when the confirmation page said that an account specialist would contact me by phone to complete the setup process; I couldn't log until that happened. However, the call was prompt and quite helpful, and I wasn't pushed into making any additional purchases. The representative asked a few questions about the type of website I wanted to build, and then emailed me the appropriate welcome materials.

Lots of Log-Ins

You manage the general account settings from the Account Management Panel (AMP), but managing the website requires a separate cPanel login. I had some trouble finding and installing the basic site builder, which is, oddly enough, called the Premium Website Builder. Eventually, I contacted web chat support, but the person I chatted with referred me to email support. Thankfully, I got a quick response, and after I supplied my AMP password, the support team was able to set me up.

The website builder requires yet another login and password, but building a website is an otherwise straightforward affair. You have three site types to choose from (site, blog, or photo gallery), you can select themes and colors, and you can pick the types of pages you'd like to include on your site. In addition to standard pages such as Contact Us and About Us, you can add special pages, such as Flash Intro and eShop. Next, you can add a map, poll, RSS reader, or script module into your pages. Unfortunately, the Premium Website Builder doesn't produce particularly attractive pages; my site looked dated. Alternatively, you can use WordPress to create your site.

E-Commerce

The service has many e-commerce options. You can add an eShop page using the Premium Web Builder and build a simple store. Payment options are limited, though. You can also download OpenCart or PrestaShop (both free) for a more robust store. I gave OpenCart a try; it offers a comprehensive dashboard for tracking customers and sales and multiple shipping and payment options. This beats other hosts like iPower and JustHost, which charge an extra monthly fee for e-commerce. Unfortunately, e-commerce isn't available with the basic Launch plan.

Security

InMotion offers several security features, including free remote backup services for accounts under 10GB in size. For WordPress sites, a free Sucuri Security plugin can be used to scan for malware and other security risks. McAfee spam and virus protection (starting at $1.39 per month) is also available for email accounts. You can purchase SSL certificates ($99.99 per year, with a $25 installation fee), which include a dedicated IP address.

Rock-Solid Uptime

Uptime is an incredibly important aspect of the hosting experience. If your website is down, clients or customers will be unable to find you or access your products or services. That is a nightmare scenario. Thankfully, InMotion showed dependable uptime in my testing.

I use a website monitoring tool to track my test sites' uptime over a 14-day period. Every 15 minutes, the tool pings my website and sends me an email if it is unable to contact the site for at least one minute. The data revealed that my InMotion site went down briefly during the testing period. Overall, InMotion is stable and dependable, but it's worth noting that some services, including A2 web hosting, didn't go down at all during testing.

Customer Service

I fired up InMotion's web chat to learn how managed servers differ from non-managed servers. Before I exchanged words with a 24/7 customer service representative, the web chat prompted me to key in my question. It returned help links, but none were relevant. I started the human-based web chat, and was connected to a representative a few seconds later and got the information I needed.

I later called InMotion's customer support squad to learn the differences between shared and hosting. Someone quickly fielded my call and gently explained the differences in everyday language. I am very pleased with InMotion's customer service.

Money-Back Guarantee

InMotion has a very generous 90-day money-back guarantee that bests most other web hosts' refund policies. Dreamhost's 97-day money-back guarantee bests InMotion's offers by a week, however.

A Worthy Web Host

InMotion's lack of a complete managed WordPress hosting solution, as well as Windows servers, prevents it from entering our upper-echelon of top-rated web hosting services. Still, it's a solid pick thanks to good uptime, numerous free add-ons, free e-commerce features, unlimited email at all levels, and a lengthy 90-day money back guarantee. Check out the Editors' Choice winners, Dreamhost HostGator, and Hostwinds, our very best overall web hosting services.

If you need tips on creating your website, please read our primer. You might also want to check out our story on how to register a domain name for your website.

Source: InMotion Web Hosting